SAN FRANCISCO, November 4, 2013 /3BL Media/ - General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret), Chairman of Eisenhower Fellowships, announced recently that the organization will send eight US citizens abroad in 2014 as USA Eisenhower Fellows. “This group of Fellows will join a network of outstanding leaders throughout the world and bring with them their own approach and creativity to contribute to a better world. Their impact will be enhanced by their experiences meeting with leaders in their respective fields abroad,” he said.

Among the eight Fellows is Ted Levinson, Director of Lending at RSF Social Finance (RSF).

Mr. Levinson manages RSF’s $75 million social enterprise loan portfolio which is composed of 90 borrowers throughout the US and Canada, and who operate in the areas of Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship. Mr. Levinson’s professional objective and passion is centered on developing the field of social finance, in part by knitting together US and international organizations to create a global social finance network. On his fellowship to Indonesia and India Mr. Levinson will explore social finance and social enterprise in the region and the possibility of integrating social finance into mainstream financial systems and infrastructure. He hopes to lay the groundwork for co-investment between US social finance groups and Asian entities.

Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Eisenhower Fellowships, commended the Fellowship awardees, saying “We live in a globalized world. An Eisenhower Fellowship will allow these outstanding men and women to bring new insights from world experts back to their communities and to form a network of lasting relationships that will make them global leaders in their fields.”

Eisenhower Fellowships is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization seeking to foster international understanding and leadership through the exchange of information, ideas, and perspectives among leaders throughout the world. Established in 1953 as a birthday tribute to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the organization has sponsored more than 2,000 Fellows from 108 countries. For more information, please visit: www.efworld.org

About RSF Social Finance

Located in San Francisco, CA, RSF Social Finance (RSF) is a financial services organization dedicated to transforming the way the world works with money. Since 1984, the organization has made over $275 million in loans and $100 million in grants to non-profit and for-profit social enterprises working in the areas of Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship To learn more, visit www.rsfsocialfinance.org.

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